As the police rack their brain to uncover the mystery surrounding the death of Corporal (Cpl) Agatha Nana Nabin, the Auditor-General (AG) has implicated her in its 2020 Audit report.
Cpl Agatha is the policewoman who was shot and killed by some hoodlums while she was on snap check duty on the Kumbugu road at Tamale on 30th July, 2019.
According to the AG’s report, Cpl Agatha is among four other officers involved in the disappearance of five AK 47 rifles and 100 rounds of ammunitions at the Northern Regional Police Command in Tamale.
The report noted that Cpl Agatha was issued an AK 47 rifle with registration number AZ6639 and 20 rounds of ammunitions on July 30, 2019.
The others; Sgt. Francis Binfoh, Cpl. Josephine Awo Atoproke, Constable (Const) Amos Maduku and Const. Brigette Detornu were each issued a rifle and 20 ammunitions each.
According to the report, the arms and ammunitions were given to Cpl Agatha and her colleagues for Operation Calm Life, a project launched in the first term of the Akufo-Addo led administration in February 2018, to combat criminal activities in the Northern Region.
Portions of the report read: “Our inspection at the Armoury of the Tamale Station revealed that five AK 47 rifles and 100 rounds of ammunitions could not be accounted for.
“These arms and ammunitions issued to officers for Operation Calm life duties had not been returned. There was also no available information as to the whereabouts of these rifles.”
The Auditor, therefore, recommended that the Regional Police Administration should urgently carry out thorough investigation and mete out sanctions where appropriate.
The recommendation was necessitated by the fact that as of August 2020 when the audit was being carried out, the Regional Criminal Investigations Department (RCID) could not furnish the team with the status of investigation being carried out to ensure the successful retrieval of the rifles, although the Armorer said management had referred the case to the RCID for investigation.
The Auditor indicated that the Police Service Instruction 125 states that: “Where any officer learns of damage to or loss of any equipment or material on charge to or issued for the use of the Service, the officer shall immediately report the same to the nearest Police Station.
“The Station officer, at which such a report is made, shall cause immediate investigation to be made and shall report the result thereof, to the District Officer”, hence their recommendation.
The Chronicle is, however, surprised at the inclusion of Officer Agatha’s name in the report, as the woman is no longer with the living.
Taking into consideration the time she kicked the bucket, one can easily conclude that the audit was carried out 13 months after her demise, a time the police administration could have taken inventory of whatever working tools were with Officer Agatha and take the necessary steps to retrieve them.
About AG’s report
The 2020 AG report, which was released recently, captures the accounts of Public Boards,
Corporations and other statutory institutions for the period ended December 2020.
It was prepared under Section 11 of the Audit Service Act, 2000 (Act 584).
The report forms part of eleven other reports that the Audit Service submitted to Parliament.
The report under consideration highlights financial irregularities identified and resulting from
breakdown of internal controls from the Ministries and their corresponding institutions and
boards.
The Northern Regional Police Command in Tamale was one of the organisations under the Ministry of Interior that was cited for irregularities.
